India clash with Pakistan in Sultan of Johor Cup hockey
The under-21 invitational tournament in Malaysia is slowly becoming a three-horse race with India and Pakistan winning both their opening games. The best young talents from the nations are on show.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: September 25, 2013 04:55 PM IST
The invitational under-21 Sultan of Johor Cup hockey tournament is already looking like a three-team event with Pakistan, Malaysia and India in the forefront. India are the defending champions having won the inaugural edition in 2012. This year, Argentina, England and Korea are also in fray.
Pakistan, India and hosts Malaysia have each won both of their opening matches in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. India will clash with Pakistan on Wednesday while Malaysia take on England. Argentina and Korea played out a 2-2 draw in the first match on Wednesday.
Pakistan are the current table-toppers with six points thanks to wins over Korea (3-0) and England (6-2), with Muhammad Dilber netting two goals in each match to establish himself as the tournament top scorer.
Host nation Malaysia have also been in impressive form, surging to victories over Argentina (4-2) and Korea (5-1), while India proved themselves to be too good for England (2-1) and Argentina (3-2) in their opening matches. Both Malaysia and India sit level with Pakistan on points but behind on goal difference.
The round-robin league championship ends on September 28.